Who is to blame for the Detroit Red Wings’ Game 3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks?

The question of who to blame for the Red Wings in these playoffs is getting harder and easier at the same time. When a team loses 4-0, it’s hard to single out one person to direct all your acrimony towards. But when a team loses 4-0, the correct answer on who to blame is everybody.

First of all, Justin Abdelkader takes a five minute penalty. Whether the call was just or not is up to you, but the NHL thinks it is, so Abdelkader is at fault. It’s obvious the scouting report says Anaheim likes to feed the guy in the middle of the box. The Red Wings were very concerned with him, collapsing and shading a defenseman to him.The puck comes to Getzlaf on the boards above the top of the circles. Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall are both concerned with taking away the pass to the guy in the middle of the box (as evidenced in the photo above), leaving Corey Perry by himself in front. Kronwall is slow to react once the pass is sent down low, and Ericsson compounds it by not picking up Nick Bonino, who scored on the rebound.Responsibility: Justin Abdelkader (0.33), Jonathan Ericsson (0.33), Niklas Kronwall (0.33)

Lashoff gets pressured by Emerson Etem and throws a wild pass of the boards that Kindl can’t handle. Etem was closing in, but he could have made a better pass, or at least not caused a turnover. Teemu Selanne takes the puck in the corner and around the net as Kindl follows. Before getting all the way around, he slides the puck to Etem, who Lashoff could be covering, and he puts high short side. You could blame Kindl for failing to communicate, but I’m not sure whether he did or not. Lashoff panicked, made a terrible pass, then got lost in coverage. Responsibility: Brian Lashoff (1)